The Ceramic Gas Turbine-A Candidate Powerplant for the Middle-and Long-Term Future

The paper reviews our problems of energy availability in the middle and long-term future as well as our problems of environmental pollution and materials availability. Against this background the ceramic gas turbine engine is examined and shown to have potential as an attractive candidate powerplant for both the middle and long-term future. The paper reports on Ford's ceramic gas turbine program which is a systems development program encompassing all aspects of turbine ceramics technology---design, materials, fabrication processes, testing and evaluation.